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cannot restart computer and will only shut down

Whenever I try to reboot or restart my PC, it just shuts down instead. I press on Start-Turn off Computer-Restart. It will never reboot. It just completely shuts down. I have been told to reinstall my Windows system. I would like to know if it can be taken care of without reinstalling and if that is not possible I would at least like to understand what is causing
this to happen. I have Windows XP home edition.
This is NOT a shutdown problem. It is a restart problem. Shutdown works fine.

A while back, I had a Win 98 machine that did the opposite of that. It would not shut down, but rather rebooted when I wanted it to shut down. I don't know what the root of the problem was for sure, but I solved it by clearing the CMOS settings. Whether that has any bearing on your problem with XP Home, you could try and find out.

You may also find that the problem is originating from a setting in the Power Options applet in the Control Panel.

It might be worth going to your motherboard manufacturer's web site and getting the latest drivers for your motherboard.

Also, if this has always happened with Windows XP, it might be worth looking at a BIOS update for your motherboard. That's not something to be tried lightly - make sure you get the right update for your particular motherboard, look at the list of changes and see if there's any mention of power or rebooting issues with Windows XP before you try it.

I see several replies here(Thanks everyone : ) )and I am not sure which to try first so I will start with what I think is the simplest. I am checking the power options in the control panel.
Under the UPS tab I have:
'The UPS service is currently stopped.'
I dont know if this is relevant but I have a Radio Shack Computer Equipment Surge protector.
Under 'Status' in the UPS tab everything is greyed out and all the entries are blank.
Under 'Details' the manufacturer is 'none'.
When I click on the 'Select' button for 'Details' I have two other choices American Power Conversion or Generic.

It might not even need a BIOS update, just a BIOS change. Of course, you should have the new drivers and firmware anyway, so it's a good idea to check the manufacturer's website.

There are several standards for power and power management features in computers. Most older motherboards like to keep the control, while the newer Windows OSes also want control. I would check your BIOS "power management" settings and try it on "ACPI" or disable it altogether. One or the other will probably work. Disabling it might cause you to lose functions like "standby", "sleep" and "hibernate" but the basics, like off and reset, should still work.

Can't restart computer and will only shut down on TX 1000

very insteresting, I just searching for this issue and come out your solution, but it was long time ago,, time changes,,, now same problem on vsita OS, motherboad already have latest bios version, and there is not much changable field on bios on this model HP tx 1000. when it auto restart, instead of restart laptop, it shutdown. and sometime when I press power,, it is not start up right away, it shows all lights, but nothing on screen,, I have to cold start a few time... is there has easy fix on this type issue on this model of laptop,, thank you..

You problem is within the power supply controller (probably). There are a number of reasons for this. About half require a multimeter to see what actually exists.

The front panel switch could be wired incorrectly so that is works sometimes - not others.

Voltage levels on signals from and to the power supply controller must be measured for sufficient margins. In fact, that 30 seconds of labor would have been the very first numbers I would have collected.

Also if a wrong HAL is installed by Windows for your hardware, that also can cause problems. This is what others also described as incorrect ACPI software. A multimeter may also identify symptoms traceable to that problem.

The ability to restart a machine is in a power controller - hardware on the motherboard that interfaces with the ACPI. That hardware is unique for each chipset manufacturer which is why Windows must load the correct software. Unfortunately, then is no manual selection and reload process (except if the motherboard manufacturer has one).

ACPI

very good point,, but what can I do to get laptop working again? I can not reset or roll back the bios,, pull battery out, it still show lastest version. restore to the factory setting by recovery DVD,, shutdown itself in the half way.. ,, little bit tired with HP models...

Well, it involves hardware. Your computer is one of the few that actually provide comprehensive hardware diagnostics - often called PC Doctor. Executing it without Windows is essential to breaking a problem down into parts - then first learning the condition of each part separate from all others. I doubt the hardware diagnostics will discover a problem because the problem - that involves hardware - is probably not limited to hardware. But to have useful replies from those who actually know computers, that diagnostic report must be provided.

Start with the basics. Swap and change nothing. Just collect facts that mean nothing to you - which mean so much to only a few others here. Your replies have only been as useful as the facts you provide - especially when those facts mean nothing to you.

Same applies to Device Manager and system (event) logs. What do they report? If necessary, find them through Windows Help.

I have long ago stopped remembering these setting names. How your machine responds to the various power cycling settings (shutdown, hibernate. sleep, restart) is defined in the registry. Find what your settings are for those registry controls. Then report what you (or malware, or Windows, or ...) have set in your registry.

Notice the difference in how difficult problems are solved. No 'it might be this or try to change that'. First get facts. 'Try this or change that' comes much later - after facts are collected.

Unfortunately, I know of no way to obtain which HAL software is loaded. One suspect is Windows detecting and then loading the wrong software for your chipset. Never had to diagnosis your type failure (since post Win 98 days). Therefore have long forgotten the actual names to search for; to find where to find the software and version that Windows would install for your machine.

And finally, I am assuming your machine was built to support that OS? The HP web page for your particular machine must state that. If not, the software necessary to make your machine work properly with that OS would not exist among maybe 100+ configurations that are provided in Windows.